Competition vs Combat vs Self-Defense: Aiming

Sights: Not just there to tacticool-rack on your belt or boot.

 So far, I've talked about the differences in Steady Position (stance and grip) and Trigger Pull in competition shooting vs combat vs self-defense shooting.  Now, I'm going to cover a much more complicated fundamental of shooting: Aiming.  It's very complicated because there are not just three versions of aiming based on the three different situations.  Sometimes in competition, very precise shooting is necessary and thus meticulous aiming is necessary, and sometimes speed is more important than accuracy, and at short ranges "accurate enough" does not require using the sights at all.  In combat, it's slightly less complex, you always aim.  Again, the premise of these blogs is that combat is different from self-defense and both are different from competition, though competition can help shooting in the other two.  That being said, in combat you always use your sights, unless you are in extreme close quarters ("gun grappling" range), which much more closely resembles hand-to-hand combat (i.e. the typical self-defense shooting range of less than two meters) rather than rifle combat of several hundred yards.  A significant difference between combat and self-defense, however, is that "collateral damage" is acceptable in combat.  Which means, even though you are using your sights, the enemy WILL BE moving to avoid bullets, as a result, often in combat, we miss.  Sometimes those misses cause collateral damage.  That is perfectly legal and accepted in war zones.  It is NEVER acceptable in a self-defense shooting situation, which means you have to be absolutely precise in self-defense shooting.  How precise is that?  Good question.  The answer doesn't change in self-defense shooting; it will change in defense of others type shootings like a school or church shooter or a hostage situation.  Again to reiterate, I consider those type of scenarios combat not self-defense.  But in self-defense shooting, the answer to the precision question never changes: the ribcage.  That's how precise you have to be.  From a thousand yards, that's very precise shooting with a sniper rifle.  From a hundred yards with a pistol, that is very precise shooting also.  From a wrestling match in an alley with a mugger or a rapist, that is not very precise shooting at all.  So, the target doesn't change, the difficulty of hitting it changes with distance (and thus the necessary precision of aim required to hit the ribcage).  That being the case, there are three levels of self-defense shooting in my opinion:

1) Within 1 meter (arm's length): Shooting should be done from the hip into the torso of the opponent without any attempt to utilize sights at all.  At this distance, it is difficult to miss.  Shooting From Retention drills.

2) Greater than arm's length, but less than 2 arms' lengths (approx 6 feet).  Shooting should be done from the Compressed Ready Position (meaning gun is in a 2-hand grip, in front of the torso, but arms are retracted not extended) to prevent gun-grappling (opponent grabs your gun because he's within your and his arms length).  Shooting from Compressed Ready, sights are not used, rather the orientation of the body towards the opponent (the Natural Point of Aim) determines the orientation of the barrel.  With the barrel parallel to the ground, oriented at the torso of the opponent, shots will hit somewhere in the ribcage from 1-2 meters out.

3) Greater than 2 arms' lengths.  Use the sights!  Collateral damage CANNOT be accepted in self-defense shooting situations, unlike in a combat zone, which means you are accountable for every round that comes out of the barrel of that gun.  Some people can Point Shoot (not use the sights) beyond two yards, but from a self-defense perspective, there is no reason to, in my opinion.  If you are outside the range at which he can grab your gun, then there's no reason to shoot from the Compressed Ready or Retention (the hip), and the risk to hitting innocent bystanders increases with every inch farther away from the opponent your muzzle gets, which will end it being a self-defense situation to where you can be charged with a crime.

Most competition shooters look at that very differently.  Their perspective is about speed, if they can shoot from the hip and hit the target at longer ranges, that can shave time off of their scores, adding to their points.  That is absolutely the opposite way a self-defender should look at using sights and aiming.  Just as in combat situations, the default should always be to use the sights.  The only time we don't use the sights is when there is a real risk of the gun being batted to the side or taken away from us, in which case shooting from the Compressed Ready or Shooting From Retention are Techniques (remember, difference between Tactics, Techniques and Procedures from my last blog) to overcome the situation that prevents using the sights, but every modern firearm is designed WITH SIGHTS for a reason.  They should always be used unless it's impossible.  Competition shooters do not risk collateral damage and they don't have to be as precise sometimes.

In conclusion, when should you use your sights?  Always, unless there is a defensive reason not to (gun grappling), in which case you use the next best options based on distance.  Just because you can point shoot and hit a steel plate at three meters doesn't mean anything in a real self-defense engagement.  As a final caveat, I will simply say that self-defense situations are dynamic.  A fight that might start a seven meters can very quickly change to one meter or less, so all of these distances I'm referring to are AT THE TIME OF THE TRIGGER PULL.  That means the gun will be moving between these various levels of extension at different times in a gunfight, and that's a good thing.  If a guy is charging you with a knife and you have to collapse your shooting position back to the Compressed Ready when he breaks that two meter line, so that you can KEEP FIRING, then do it.  There's not static cardboard targets, which is why you should always use your sights UNLESS YOU CAN'T.

Like and Share if you liked/agreed/disagreed/care:)

Soule

Comment if you disagree.  Open to feedback.  www.facebook.com/easy6training